Protectors for electric circuits



Nov. 3, 1970 A. URANI PROTECTORS FOR ELECTRIC CIRCUITS Filed June 26,1968 I34 F/ 3 & +m o 2 ),O a. e e n 0 6 G v 0 Q 3 United States Patent3,538,480 PROTECTORS FOR ELECTRIC CIRCUITS Angelo Urani, St. Louis, Mo.,assignor to McGraw-Edison Company, Elgin, Ill., a corporation ofDelaware Filed June 26, 1968, Ser. No. 740,116 Int. Cl. H0111 85/60 U.S.Cl. 337-187 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A stiff support ofconductive material has a plurality of openings therein to accommodateterminals of juxtaposed fuse holders; and those terminals areelectrically bonded within those openings to enable that support toelectrically interconnect, as well as to physically support, these fuseholders.

This invention relates to improvements in protectors for electriccircuits. More particularly, this invention relates to improvements insupports for juxtaposed fuse holders.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide animproved support for juxtaposed fuse holders.

Juxtaposed fuse holders frequently are mounted in openings in panels;and it is customary to secure each of those juxtaposed fuse holdersindividuallyeither by bolts which extend through openings in the ears onthat fuse holder or by a nut which largely or completely encircles thatfuse holder. Where juxtaposed fuse holders are to be secured within anopening in a panel by bolts passing through holes in that panel andthrough openings in the ears on those fuse holders, a considerableamount of time must be spent in drilling the holes in that panel; andadditional time must be spent in aligning the openings in the ears onthose fuse holders with the openings in that panel, and in inserting thebolts through those aligned openings. Moreover, once the fuse holdershave been secured to the panel, conductors must be attached to thevarious terminals of the fuse holders; and the attaching of thoseconductors to those terminals requires still further amounts of time. It.would be desirable to provide a support for juxtaposed fuse holders,that are to be mounted in an opening in a panel, which would reduce thenumber of holes to be drilled in that panel and which would reduce thenumber of connections that have to be made to the terminals of thosefuse holders. The present invention provides such a .support; and it is,therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a support forjuxtaposed fuse holders,

that are to be mounted in an opening in a panel, which reduces thenumber of holes that must be drilled in that panel and which reduces thenumber of connections that must be made to the terminals of those fuseholders.

The support provided by the present invention is elongated, is made ofconductive material, and has a number of openings therein. The openingsin that support are dimensioned to accommodate terminals of juxtaposedfuse holders; and, when those terminals are electrically bonded withinthose openings, that support will electrically interconnect, as well asphysically support, those fuse holders.

.The connection between the support and each of the fuse 'holders bondedto it is so sturdy and rugged that only two of those fuse holders needbe secured directly to a panel the rest of those fuse holders beingsecured to that panel by means of that support. It is, therefore, anobject of the present invention to provide an elongated support which ismade of conductive material, which has openings therein to accommodatethe terminals of juxtaposed fuse holders, and which has those terminalselectrically bonded within those openings.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present 3,538,480Patented Nov. 3, 1970 invention should become apparent from anexamination of the drawing and accompanying description.

In the drawing and accompanying description two preferred embodiments ofthe present invention are shown and described but it is to be understoodthat the drawing and accompanying description are for the purpose ofillustration only and do not limit the invention and that the inventionwill be defined by the appended claims.

In the drawing, FIG. 1 is a rear elevational view of a portion of apanel which has two spaced-apart openings therein and which has twogroups of juxtaposed fuse holders held within those openings by two ofthe supports provided by the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view through the panel and one of the fuse holdersshown in FIG. 1, and it is taken along the plane indicated by the line22 in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view through the panel of FIG. 1, and it is takenalong the plane indicated by the line 33 in FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one end of one of the supports shown inFIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view of a number of fuse holders that areheld in juxtaposed relation by two further supports provided by thepresent invention, and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view through the two supports shown in FIG. 5, andit is taken along the lane indicated by the line 66 in FIG. 5.

Referring to FIGS. 1-4 in detail, the numeral 20 generally denotes afuse holder that is mounted within an opening 144 in a panel 142 injuxtaposition to a number of other fuse holders. That fuse holder can bemade in different sizes and configurations, but it preferably isidentical to the similarly-numbered fuse holder disclosed in FisterPatent No. 3,190,987 for Protectors for Electric Circuits which wasgranted June 22, 1965. That fuse holder is generally prismatic inconfiguration, and it has a generally prismatic recess 21 therein. .Thatfuse holder has ears 22 extending upwardly and downwardly from the upperand lower ends thereof, and those ears have openings 24 therein. Aterminal 40 has a portion thereof disposed within the recess 21 in thefuse holder 20, and has a shank 44 which projects through, and extendsbeyond, an opening in the bottom of that fuse holder. A terminal 48 hasa portion thereof disposed within the recess 21 in the fuse holder 20,and has a shank 54 which projects through, and extends beyond, anopening in the bottom of that fuse holder. A terminal 62 has a portionthereof disposed within the recess 21 in the fuse holder 20, and has ashank 63 which projects through, and extends beyond, an opening in thebottom of that fuse holder. The recess 21, the cars 22, the openings 24,and terminals 40, 48 and 62 can be identical to the similarly-numberedcomponents in the said patent.

The numeral 66 generally denotes a fuse carrier which has an ear 68thereon, and also has a notch 71, a recess 72, and cars 74 and 78. Aresiilent, leaf-type contact 86 is mounted on the ear 78, and thatcontact has an indicator 92 on the free end thereof. A fusible element102 has one end thereof extending through an opening in the straightportion of the contact 86, and has the other end thereof secured to aterminal mounted on the car 74. That fuse carrier '66 and the cars 68,74 and 78 thereon, the notch 71 and the recess 72 therein, the contact86 and its indicator 92, and the fusible element 102 can be identical tothe similarly-numbered components in the said patent. The fuse holder 20and the fuse carrier 66 are used to illustrate the manner of using thesupport provided by the present invention and are not, per se, parts ofthat invention.

The numeral denotes a support; and that support is a length of metalwhich is stiff and which is generally V-shaped in cross section. Thatsupport is made of copper or some other material which has lowresistivity and which can readily be soldered; and that support has asufiiciently large cross section to be a very good conductor ofelectricity. That support has a number of openings 132 therein adjacentthe apex of the dihedral angle thereof, and those openings aredimensioned to freely accommodate the ends of the shanks 54 of theterminals 48 of a number of juxtaposed fuse holders 20'. An ear 134,which is displaced ninety degrees from one leg of the support 130, islocated at one end of that support; and the car has a threaded openingtherein to accommodate a binding screw 136. An ear 138, which iscoplanar with the ear 134, is located adjacent the opposite end of thesupport 130; and that ear has a threaded opening therein to accommodatea binding screw 140. The support 130 is formed and dimensioned so one ofthe legs thereof will abut the outer face of the bottom of the fuseholder 20 at a point between the shanks 44 and 54, and so the other legthereof will abut that outer face at a point intermediate the shanks 54and 63 when the end of the shank 54 extends into one of the openings 132in that support. The support 130 can be made in any desired lengths;but, for economic fabrication, will usually be made in just a fewstandard lengths. The supports 130 shown in FIG. 1 are made so each ofthem can support ten fuse holders 20 in juxtaposed relation. However, ifless than ten fuse holders are to be held in juxtaposed relation by agiven support 130, it is a simple matter to leave some of the openingsin that support unfilled, or to use a pair of nippers or a hack saw tocut off the extra length of that support.

In assembling a number of fuse holders 20' with the support 130, thosefuse holders can be :set on a table or other surface in invertedposition so the shanks 44, 54 and 63 thereof extend upwardly therefrom.The shanks 44 of the various fuse holders 20 will be aligned with eachother, as will the shanks 54 and 63 of those fuse holders; and the sidesof those fuse holders will be pressed against each other until thosesides are in intimate engagement. At such time, the support 130 willhave the openings 132 therein aligned with the aligned shanks 54 of thejuxtaposed fuse holders 20; and then that support will be moved towardthe outer surfaces of the bottoms of those fuse holders until theopenings 132 telescope over the ends of the shanks 54 of those fuseholders, and the bottoms of the legs of that support solidly engage theouter surfaces of the bottoms of those fuse holders. Thereupon, solderor some other electrical bonding material, will be used to fill theOpenings 132 and to mechanically-connect and electrically-bond all ofthe shanks 54 of the juxtaposed fuse holders 20 to the support 130.After the solder, or other electrical bonding material, has hardened,the support 130 will hold all of the fuse holders 20 in assembledrelation; and that support and those fuse holders can then be handled asa unit. To mount those fuse holders within the opening 144 in the panel142, those fuse holders will be disposed rearwardly of that panel withtheir recesses 21 in register with the opening 144 in that panel. Thesupport 130 can then be moved forwardly to move the juxtaposed fuseholders 20 forwardly until the ears 22 on those fuse holders abut therear surface of the panel 142; and, thereupon, a pencil or other markingdevice can be used to mark the location of four holes 148 Which must bemade in the panel 142 to accommodate four bolts 150-. As indicated byFIG. 1, the four holes 148 that are to be formed in the panel 142 can bein register with the openings 24 in the ears 22 of the two endmost fuseholders 20 of the juxtaposed fuse holders. However, such an arrangementis not essential; and holes 148 can be formed in the panel 142 inregister with any four openings 24 of the various juxtaposed fuseholders 20. Once the locations of the desired holes 148 in the panel 142have been marked, the support 130 and he fu e ho d 20 secured theretowill be moved away from that panel to facilitate the drilling of thosefour holes.

Thereafter, the juxtaposed fuse holders 20 will be set in positionbehind the panel 142 with the forward faces of the cars 22 in engagementwith the rear face of that panel and with the recesses 21 in those fuseholders in register with the opening 144 in that panel. Four bolts 150will then be passed rearwardly through the four drilled holes 148 in thepanel 142 and through the openings 24 in the cars 22 in register withthose drilled holes; and nuts 152 will be threaded onto the shanks ofthose bolts to hold the juxtaposed fuse holders 20* in assembledrelation with the panel 142. Look washers will usually be interposedbetween the nuts 152 and the rear face of the panel 142, as shown byFIGS. 2 and 3. The four bolts 150 will actually hold only two of thefuse holders 20 in direct engagement with the panel 142; but the supportand the solder in the openings 132 of that support will fixedly hold theother eight fuse holders 20 solidly against the panel 142. Whenever afuse carrier 66 bolts will actually hold only two of the fuse holders20, the rearwardly-directed forces which that fuse carrier will apply tothat fuse holder will be fully withstood by the support 130. Whenever afuse carrier 66 is to be withdrawn from the recess 21 in one of the fuseholders 20, the ears 22 on that fuse holder will coact with theopening-defining portions of the panel 142 to keep that fuse holder frommoving forwardly relative to that panel.

One end of a conductor 168 can be bared and can be wound around theshank of the binding screw 136. T ightening of that binding screw willthen electrically connect that conductor to the support 130, and thus tothe shanks 54 of all of the juxtaposed fuse holders 20 which aresoldered to that support. As a result, the support 130 will serve toelectrically interconnect the shanks 54 of all of the juxtaposed fuseholders 20 as well as to mechanically support those fuse holders.

FIG. 1 shows a second support 130 holding a second group of juxtaposedfuse holders 20 in an opening 146 in the panel 142. A link 170 has anopening therein to accommodate the shank of the binding screw 140 of theleft-hand support 130, and has a second opening to accommodate the shankof the binding screw 136 of the right-hand connector 130. By usingadditional links 170, it is possible to connect any desired number ofsupports 130 together; and all of those supports and the fuse holders 20held thereby will receive power from the conductor 168. By using twosupports 130, each of which holds ten fuse holders 20, the presentinvention makes it possible to support all twenty fuse holders by meansof just eight bolts. Further, the present invention providessubstantially as low a resistance connection between the conductor 168and the closest of the twenty shanks 54 as it provides between thatconductor and the most remote of those shanks. In addition, iteliminates all need of soldering the twenty shanks 54 to a conductorlocated behind the panel 142.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the numeral 156 denotes supports that areshorter than the supports 130 in FIG. 1. Specifically, each of thesupports 156 is made long enough to support fixe juxtaposed fuse holders20each of those supports having five openings 158 therein adjacent theapex of the dihedral angle thereof. Each of the supports 156 has an car160 that is offset from the plane of one of the legs of that support;and each of those ears has a slot 162 therein. Also, each of thesupports 156 has a threaded opening 164 in that leg thereof which bearsthe ear 160. The threaded opening 164 in a given support 156 will be inregister with the slot 162 in the ear 160 of a second support 156 whichis aligned with, and contiguous to, that first support.

In assembling one of the supports 156 with five fuse holders 20, thosefuse holders will be placed on a table or other surface with the shanks44, 54 and 63 thereof extending upwardly from the exposed surfaces ofthe bottoms thereof. The shanks 44 will be aligned with each other, aswill the shanks 54 and 63; and then the confronting sides of the fivefuse holders will be pressed into intimate engagement with each other.Thereupon, the support 156 will be moved downwardly until the openings158 therein telescope over the ends of the shanks 54 and the legs ofthat support engage the outer surfaces of the bottoms of those fuseholdersone of those legs engaging those outer surface at a pointintermediate the shanks 44 and 54, and the other of those legs engagingthose outer surfaces at a point intermediate the shanks 54 and 63.Solder will then be used to fill the openings 158 and to mechanicallyconnect and electrically bond all of the shanks 54 of the five fuseholders 20 to the support 156. Thereafter, that support will hold thosefuse holders solidly in juxtaposed relation.

If a second support 156 with its five juxtaposed fuse holders 20 is tobe set adjacent the first support 156, the ear 160 on the second support156 will be disposed immediately behind that leg of the first support156 which has the threaded opening 164 therein. A machine screw 166 willthen be passed through the slot 162 in the ear 160 on that secondsupport and threaded into the threaded opening 164 of that firstsupport. Tightening of that machine screw will fixedly lock the twosupports 156 in mechanically-locked and electrically-conductiverelation, and thus will hold the five fuse holders 20 which are held bythe second support 156, immediately adjacent and in juxtaposed relationto the five fuse holders which are held by the first support 156. Abinding screw can be set within the threaded opening 164 of the secondsupport 156 to connect a conductor to that support, or a further machinescrew 166 can be used to secure the car 160 of a third support 156 tothat second support.

If fewer than five fuse holders 20 are to be secured to the secondsupport 156, a pair of nippers or a hacksaw can be used to cut off theunneeded length of that support. Of course, if there is ample roombehind the panel, there will be no need of cutting off the unusedportion of the second support 156; and hence some openings 158 in thatsecond support will merely be left empty when fuse holders 20 aresecured to that second support.

The supports 130 and 156 provided by the present invention mechanicallyinterconnect and electrically bond the shanks 54 of the juxtaposed fuseholders 20. Further, those supports make it possible to handle a groupof juxtaposed fuse holders 20 as a unit; and they reduce the number ofholes which must be drilled in a panel to accommodate supporting bolts.As a result, those supports materially reduce the time needed to mount anumber of juxtaposed fuse holders in an opening in a panel.

Whereas the drawing and accompanying description have shown anddescribed two preferred embodiments of the present invention it shouldbe apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be madein the form of the invention without affecting the scope thereof.

What I claim is:

1. A support for a plurality of juxtaposed fuse holders, that haveelongated blade-like terminals, which comprises:

an elongated length of metal of low resistivity that is substantiallyrigid and unyielding,

said elongated length of metal having a plurality of opening-definingareas spaced along the length thereof,

said opening-defining areas defining openings having transversedimensions larger than the largest transverse dimensionsof the shanks ofsome of said bladelike terminals of said juxtaposed fuse holders andbeing spaced apart distances corresponding to the distances between saidsome blade-like terminals of said juxtaposed fuse holders to enable saidopenings to accommodate said shanks of said some blade-like terminals ofsaid juxtaposed fuse holders,

said shanks of said some blade-like terminals of said juxtaposed fuseholders being positionable within said Openings in said elongated lengthof metal,

said support having a leg thereof physically engageable with theexteriors of the bottoms of said juxtaposed fuse holders to providephysical support for said fuse holders but being spaced from otherterminals of said juxtaposed fuse holders,

the metal of said length of metal readily alloying with a bondingmaterial, whereby said bonding material can physically secure andelectrically connect said some blade-like terminals of said juxtaposedfuse holders to said length of metal,

said length of metal being adapted to serve as a common conductor for,and being adapted to coact with said bonding material to electricallyinterconnect, said some blade-like terminals of said juxtaposed fuseholders.

2. A support for a plurality of juxtaposed fuse holders as claimed inclaim 1 wherein said elongated length of metal is generally V-shaped toenable said leg and another leg to define an acute dihedral angle andwherein said openings are adjacent the apex of said acute dihedral angledefined by the first said leg and said other leg of said elongatedlength of metal.

3. A support for a plurality of juxtaposed fuse holders as claimed inclaim 1 wherein said elongated length of metal is generally V-shaped toenable said leg and another leg to define an acute dihedral angle andwherein said other leg of sid elongated length of metal also isphysically engageable with the exteriors of the bottoms of saidjuxtaposed fuse holders to provide physical support for said fuseholders.

4. A support for a plurality of juxtaposed fuse holders as claimed inclaim 1 wherein said support has an ear thereon connectable to a similarsupport, said ear being adapted to physically secure said similarsupport to the first said support and to electrically interconnect saidsimilar support with said first said support, whereby said someterminals of the fuse holders secured to said similar support can beelectrically interconnected with said some terminals of the fuse holderssecured to said first said support.

5. A support for a plurality of juxtaposed fuse holders as claimed inclaim 1 wherein said support has an ear offset from the plane of one ofthe legs thereof, said ear being adapted to overlie the correspondingleg of a second support to facilitate mechanical locking and electricalconnecting said said supports whereby said some terminals of the fuseholders secured to said second support can be electricallyinterconnected with said some terminals of the fuse holders secured tothe first said support.

6. A support for a plurality of juxtaposed fuse holders as claimed inclaim 1 wherein said elongated length of metal is generally V-shaped toenable said leg and another leg to define an acute dihedral angle andwherein said shanks of said some terminals are disposed between andprotected by said legs of said support.

7. A support for a plurality of juxtaposed fuse holders as claimed inclaim 1 wherein said elongated length of metal is generally V-shaped toenable said leg and another leg to define a dihedral angle and whereinthe other leg of said elongated length of metal also is physicallyengageable with the exteriors of the bottoms of said juxtaposed fuseholders to provide physical support of said fuse holders, and wherein atleast two of said juxtaposed fuse holders are fixedly secured to amounting,

said support being held fixed relative to said mounting by said twojuxtaposed fuse holders and by said bonding material which secures saidshanks of said some terminals of said juxtaposed fuse holders within twoof said openings in said support.

8. A support for a plurality of juxtaposed fuse holders as claimed inclaim 1 wherein said elongated length of metal is generally V-shaped toenable said leg and another leg to define a dihedral angle and whereinthe other leg of said elongated length of metal also is physicallyengageable with the exteriors of the bottoms of said juxtaposed fuseholders to provide physical support of said fuse holders, and wherein atleast two of said juxtaposed fuse holders are fixehly secured to amounting, said support being held fixed relative to said mounting bysaid two juxtaposed fuse holders and by said bonding material whichsecures said shanks of said some terminals of said juxtaposed fuseholders Within two of said openings in said support, said sopport alsoholding other of said juxtaposed fuse holders fixed relative to saidmountmg.

9. The combination which comprises: a plurality of juxtaposed fuseholders Which have terminals with shanks thereon, an elongated supportof electrically conductive material which has a plurality ofopening-defining areas spaced along the length-thereof to defineopenings having transverse dimensions larger than the largest transversedimensions of the shanks of some of said terminals of said juxtaposedfuse holders and being spaced apart distances corresponding tothedistances between said some terminals of said juxtaposed fuse holders toenable said openings to accommodate said shanks of said some terminals,and

bonding material to electrically interconnect, said some terminals ofsaid juxtaposed fuse holders.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Sims et al. 337187 Smidt et al.337l87 X Morgan et a1. 3l7120 X Jung 337187 X BERNARD A. GILHEANY,Primary Examiner D. M. MORGAN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

